successful project management - Commonwealth of Learning

• the paradigm shift that is expected of team members;
• the need for more purposeful interaction;
• the project structure;
• challenges likely to arise while working on the project;
• the work breakdown structure; and
• time management.
Case Study D
For the past ten years or so, Zimbabwe has been going through a period of turmoil
regarding the political, economic and social issues. There is an attempt to bring
some sense of stability in the country, and towards that end there is effort from
different quarters. Some of the areas receiving attention are health, education,
housing, public relations, rule of law, entrepreneurship, food security, to name a few.
This is a period of post conflict reconstruction.
An international NGO, in its bid for post conflict reconciliation establishes that the
relationship between civil society and the police is very poor. Civil society fears the
police and is mistrustful of the way the police enforce the law. In particular, they find
the police as being partisan, serving the interest of the ruling party and applying rules
selectively. The civil society is also concerned about corruption and bribery. It is said
that those who commit crimes are allowed to go untried as long as they pay bribes.
Further, the police extort bribes by finding fault where there is none, knowing that
those they victimize have a limited knowledge of the law. Particular instances include
trends observed at roadblocks where cases are created to make sure the accused
feel guilty before pumping out ridiculous sums of money to be allowed to go free.
The new generation of police officers, young and money hungry use foul language
that intimidates civilians. Harassment is of common occurrence, but worst of all the
officers have serious communication limitations when it comes to statement writing,
interrogation, translation from one language to another and report-writing. The NGO
has gone on to report that the police officers have limited knowledge of cross-cultural
etiquette. This, the NGO alleges, is evident in the manner the police deal with visitors
and tourists who come and go out of the country. The net effect is that the behaviour
of these law enforcement agents impacts negatively on human rights and the tourism
and hospitality industry, which is a source of much-needed revenue.
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